Crowds Are Really Small

Park Hopper · 09-24-2003

Any DCers headed to Orlando in the near future should benefit from really small crowds at the WDW parks. DW is out of town, so I've had nothing better to do the last three days than to sneak out to the parks -- MK, MGM and Epcot.

In particular, the crowds at MGM and Epcot were the smallest I've seen since right after 9/11. MK was a little more crowded than the other two, but not much.

There was virtually no waiting for any attraction. You could walk on just about anything, including Spaceship Earth, Mission: Space, Tower of Terror and the Backlot Tour. It was bizarre to see all the Standby Line counters reading zero.

How empty was it?

There were so few people in the '50s Prime Time Cafe that the experience was diminished because the servers didn't have enough diners to do their shtick with. My waitress actually sat down and chatted with me for almost 10 minutes.

I traded pins and shot the breeze for 10 minutes with the cast member manning one of the pin stations because she had no customers. For the longest time, I was the only person in One Man's Dream.

The far reaches of MGM were so deserted that New York Street looked like a ghost town. There really wasn't anyone there. And once the "crowd" started heading to Fantasmic, there were so few people left that it was kind of spooky.

I know all you guys pray for empty parks when you're at WDW, but this was almost a little too empty.

sandanv1 · 09-24-2003

I was in the Orlando area for a conference the 19 & 20th and noticed the lack of tourists. The roads were less congested, local attractions were empty, there were no waits at restaurants, and City Walk and Old Town were deserted. It was kinda nice but kinda creepy. The local merchants seem to think that Mickeys Halloween Party and Universals Halloween Horror Nights will pull in some crowds.

I leave on Saturday so I hope the crowds stay light.

:D

skwak · 09-24-2003

Oh, how I hope it stays this way for the next month!!:D

Thanks for the update.:)

dlashe4977 · 09-24-2003

I hope the crowds are not there for my trip on 10/24 - 11/02

Captgoodguy · 09-24-2003

Park Hopper - I too hope for small crowds, but I don't think anyone is getting what you are saying.

Too empty means more cutbacks, less magic.

Park Hopper · 09-24-2003

Quote:

Originally posted by Captgoodguy
Park Hopper - I too hope for small crowds, but I don't think anyone is getting what you are saying.

Too empty means more cutbacks, less magic.

Exactly right, Captgoodguy. Post Labor Day is the beginning of the slow season, but what I saw the last three days was pretty scary from an economic point of view. All too many areas of WDW are already painfully in need of a simple fresh coat of paint, which I fear won't happen unless the economy picks up.

tigger · 09-24-2003

I agree small crowds is not good for long term magic...lets hope the attendance picks up soon.

charlene · 09-24-2003

On Halloween and early November and everything I wanted to do was booked up. My neighbors couldnt even get a room at ANY moderate priced hotels on site and only could get All star music for this same week. Do you think everyone is waitng for me to go ? hum?

I couldnt even get Fantasmic dinner reservations until the end of my 11 day vacation. ANd of course its during soap opera weekend. UG>:madmad

Maybe these next couple of weekes are the calm before the storm.

LRTJS · 09-24-2003

Park Hopper I hear you loud and clear. Even though we want smal crowds when we go it is not healthy for DW. To me the crowds (when they are tolerable) is part of the excitement. I called to make a PS for Fantasmic Dinner for Oct. 6 and had my pick of times. The CM did say it looked fairly full for the end of the week. I think it will pick up on into Oct. with Halloween and FTP.

charlene · 09-24-2003

I just realized I am the queen of typos:weird:

dznygrl · 09-24-2003

Oh, dear. I can understand why the lack of crowds would be "spooky." Sounds a lot like the situation when we took our trip last September. Sometimes it was almost scary! I didn't necessarily like having more people there this year, but it made me feel better because at least the WDW economy wasn't suffering!! :cry: Strange how the crowds can be so different from week to week...

Linda · 09-24-2003

Do you feel perhaps, some of the lack of people, is anticipation of hurricane Isabel? for a while there noone knew what she was going to do.

:hmmm

Park Hopper · 09-24-2003

Quote:

Originally posted by Linda
Do you feel perhaps, some of the lack of people, is anticipation of hurricane Isabel? for a while there noone knew what she was going to do.

:hmmm

No, not really. Isabel never really was a factor for Florida. Although there was doubt about where she would end up, none of the strike projections had her coming anywhere near Florida. Isabel could have affected travel plans along the East Coast last week, but that's been so long ago that I don't think the people at WDW now were affected.

DougiesMommy · 09-24-2003

I'm trying to make my boss reservations for Oct 19th - 24th for a conference and just about everything is completely booked. For hotel choices on disney.com I got the All-Star Resorts, Port Orleans, AK, and Fort Wildnerness. All others are booked. I'm thinking MNSSH and some conferences coming up will definately pick attendance back up.

richaimg · 09-24-2003

We'll be there in 17 days...hope the crowds don't increase TOO much! I don't want it to be empty, but don't want long lines either!

Park Hopper - as far as the economy goes...not to worry, I will be there with my credit card to save the day!

:)

09-24-2003	#1 (permalink)
Park Hopper Mouse Meister Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Orlando Posts: 1,255	Crowds Are Really Small Any DCers headed to Orlando in the near future should benefit from really small crowds at the WDW parks. DW is out of town, so I've had nothing better to do the last three days than to sneak out to the parks -- MK, MGM and Epcot. In particular, the crowds at MGM and Epcot were the smallest I've seen since right after 9/11. MK was a little more crowded than the other two, but not much. There was virtually no waiting for any attraction. You could walk on just about anything, including Spaceship Earth, Mission: Space, Tower of Terror and the Backlot Tour. It was bizarre to see all the Standby Line counters reading zero. How empty was it? There were so few people in the '50s Prime Time Cafe that the experience was diminished because the servers didn't have enough diners to do their shtick with. My waitress actually sat down and chatted with me for almost 10 minutes. I traded pins and shot the breeze for 10 minutes with the cast member manning one of the pin stations because she had no customers. For the longest time, I was the only person in One Man's Dream. The far reaches of MGM were so deserted that New York Street looked like a ghost town. There really wasn't anyone there. And once the "crowd" started heading to Fantasmic, there were so few people left that it was kind of spooky. I know all you guys pray for empty parks when you're at WDW, but this was almost a little too empty. __________________ 30 Minutes from the Mouse

09-24-2003	#2 (permalink)
sandanv1 Mouse Meister Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: 15 miles from WDW Posts: 1,110	I was in the Orlando area for a conference the 19 & 20th and noticed the lack of tourists. The roads were less congested, local attractions were empty, there were no waits at restaurants, and City Walk and Old Town were deserted. It was kinda nice but kinda creepy. The local merchants seem to think that Mickeys Halloween Party and Universals Halloween Horror Nights will pull in some crowds. I leave on Saturday so I hope the crowds stay light. :D __________________ Now that we live in near WDW, we stop by every couple weeks! "Of course I don't look busy...I did it right the first time! 2005 - Moved 20 miles from WDW POR (Oct) Fort Wilderness (Dec) 2004 - Pop Cent. (Feb, April) POR(Oct,Dec) Caribbean (Oct) 2003 - All Star Music (Feb.) All Star Sports (April), POR (Oct), CSR (Dec) 2002 - Fort Wilderness (Dec), POR (Oct), AKL (Aug), off site (may):(, CSR (April), Caribbean (Feb) 2001 - Fort Wilderness (Dec), PO Riverside (Oct)

09-24-2003	#3 (permalink)
skwak Pay me in Disney Dollars! Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: New Jersey Posts: 2,492	Oh, how I hope it stays this way for the next month!!:D Thanks for the update.:) __________________ 2008 Oct. ~ SSR & 7 Days on the Disney Magic! 2008 Aug ~ Our New Vacation Home 2008 Apr. ~ Our New Vacation Home 2007 Dec. ~ Swan & VWL 2007 Aug. ~ POR & Contemporary 2006 Nov. ~ SSR, ASM and 7 Days on the Disney Magic! 2005 Oct. ~ VWL 2005 Apr. ~ BWV 2004 Oct. ~ OKW 2004 Sept. ~ SSR 2003 Oct. ~ POR & Caribbean Beach 2002 Sept. ~ POR & AKL 2001 March ~ ASSports 2000 Feb. ~ All Star Sports & Coronado Springs My Disney Countdown Counting down to: 8 Nights at Goofy's Grotto with the Entlers and Bussenos!! Gone to our Happy Place!

09-24-2003	#4 (permalink)
dlashe4977 Senior Mouseketeer Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Medford, Long Island, NY Posts: 198	I hope the crowds are not there for my trip on 10/24 - 11/02 __________________ 10/01/71 - MAGIC KINGDOM 08/02/76 - Magic Kingdom 6/91 - Polynesian 11/98 - Embassy Suites 5/00 - Grand Floridian 12/02 - All Star Music 11/03 - Polynesian 11/04 - Pop Century & Wilderness Lodge 08/07 - POFQ & Poly or WL again

09-24-2003	#5 (permalink)
Captgoodguy Big Cheese Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Indiana Posts: 516	Park Hopper - I too hope for small crowds, but I don't think anyone is getting what you are saying. Too empty means more cutbacks, less magic. __________________ A former and future Annual Passholder from Indiana that has visited too many times to list here. Proud parent of Jingles The Wonder Dog.

		MouseBuzz.com > Walt Disney World > WDW Theme Parks
Crowds Are Really Small

09-24-2003	#7 (permalink)
tigger Official Sunshine Pumper Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: In my own skin Posts: 2,924	I agree small crowds is not good for long term magic...lets hope the attendance picks up soon. __________________ * Taking this post seriously might induce serious medical issues. Please consult your doctor if you feel light headed, dizzy, have dry mouth, ringing of the ears, incontinence, vomiting, loss of vision, numbness or tingling, upset stomach, hair loss, change in breathing, toe fungus, dry skin, muscle aches, runny noise, teeth pain, heaviness of limbs, sudden hunger, dry or red eyes, or a feeling of confusion or lost.

09-24-2003	#8 (permalink)
charlene Senior Mouseketeer Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: suburban Philadelphia, on the Jersey Side Posts: 220	On Halloween and early November and everything I wanted to do was booked up. My neighbors couldnt even get a room at ANY moderate priced hotels on site and only could get All star music for this same week. Do you think everyone is waitng for me to go ? hum? I couldnt even get Fantasmic dinner reservations until the end of my 11 day vacation. ANd of course its during soap opera weekend. UG>:madmad Maybe these next couple of weekes are the calm before the storm. __________________

09-24-2003	#9 (permalink)
LRTJS Southern Disney Belle Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Alabama Posts: 2,403	Park Hopper I hear you loud and clear. Even though we want smal crowds when we go it is not healthy for DW. To me the crowds (when they are tolerable) is part of the excitement. I called to make a PS for Fantasmic Dinner for Oct. 6 and had my pick of times. The CM did say it looked fairly full for the end of the week. I think it will pick up on into Oct. with Halloween and FTP. __________________ Laughter is timeless,Imagination has no age, and dreams are forever! SUPER SOAP WEEKEND!!!!! DW Trip 30 ....CSR ROCKS!! French Quarter All Star Sports All Star Music Pop Century ^i^ * Postcard Pixie * ^i^ ~ Sharing the Disney magic ~ My Disney Countdown Counting down to: Thanksgiving Trip what a way to give thanks!!

09-24-2003	#10 (permalink)
charlene Senior Mouseketeer Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: suburban Philadelphia, on the Jersey Side Posts: 220	I just realized I am the queen of typos:weird: __________________

09-24-2003	#11 (permalink)
dznygrl aka dizzygirl Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: The breezy shore Posts: 9,335	Oh, dear. I can understand why the lack of crowds would be "spooky." Sounds a lot like the situation when we took our trip last September. Sometimes it was almost scary! I didn't necessarily like having more people there this year, but it made me feel better because at least the WDW economy wasn't suffering!! :cry: Strange how the crowds can be so different from week to week... __________________ Proud former 2-time Disneyland CM Avatar: Moooom, make Alice stop hugging me! 2000 ~ off-site 2002 ~ Polynesian 2003 ~ All-Star Movies 2008 ~ All-Star Music My Disney Countdown Counting down to: The girls' first trip to Disneyland! 42 days 8 hours 39 minutes

09-24-2003	#12 (permalink)
Linda Senior Mouseketeer Join Date: May 2002 Location: Houston, Texas Posts: 119	Do you feel perhaps, some of the lack of people, is anticipation of hurricane Isabel? for a while there noone knew what she was going to do. :hmmm __________________ Linda 2004 May-BCV-Flwr Fest/Nov-BCV 2003 Hilton Head DVC-June/BCV-Nov 2002 POR/Polynesian 2001 POR 2000 Beach Club/Cape Royal 1999 Dixie Landings (POR) 1995 Dolphin 1993 Disneyland Hotel 84-92 Various off site hotels 1983 Disneyland Hotel 1972 First Visit to WDW

09-24-2003	#14 (permalink)
DougiesMommy Big Cheese Join Date: Aug 2003 Posts: 567	I'm trying to make my boss reservations for Oct 19th - 24th for a conference and just about everything is completely booked. For hotel choices on disney.com I got the All-Star Resorts, Port Orleans, AK, and Fort Wildnerness. All others are booked. I'm thinking MNSSH and some conferences coming up will definately pick attendance back up. __________________ Cher

09-24-2003	#15 (permalink)
richaimg Senior Mouseketeer Join Date: Jun 2003 Posts: 325	We'll be there in 17 days...hope the crowds don't increase TOO much! I don't want it to be empty, but don't want long lines either! Park Hopper - as far as the economy goes...not to worry, I will be there with my credit card to save the day! :) __________________ Jan. 2007 Pop Century Jan/Feb 2006 Pop Century Feb. 2005 Port Orleans French Quarter Oct. 2003 Coronado Springs Dec. 1996 Old Key West

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